PrintYourFood: Decoupling composition and texture of personalised 3D printed food using experimental design and data-driven modelling

Texture is an important sensorial property, which affects consumers’ acceptance of food. 3D Food Printing (3DFP) presents the opportunity to modify textural properties in combination with its potential for personalized nutrition, bringing health benefits to consumers. To fulfil consumers’ nutritional needs and sensory demands, the influence of macronutrient composition and texture for 3D-printed food needs to be explored. Texture of 3D-printed food is influenced by three factors i) macronutrient composition, ii) printing design e.g. geometric design, and iii) post-printing treatment. These influences are complex and have been studied using a trial-and-error approach. In addition, changing the composition of the food inks would affect the printability of the inks and the shape stability of the products. Therefore, this project aims to find a way to control texture of the 3D-printed food independently from its macronutrient composition, to help realize personalized nutrition. A model ink system varying in macronutrient composition will be evaluated in terms of printability which is linked to the rheological properties. The printable inks will be used to create various texture of 3D-printed food by changing printing design and post-printing treatment. A texture map will be created. Data-driven models will be developed using a dataset, to predict the texture of 3D-printed food based on the three aforementioned factors. The model can be extrapolated to new 3D-printed products to allow for their quicker launch in commercial markets in future. This research will hopefully provide quantitative understandings of the 3D printing process from ingredient composition to final printed product quality.